In the original Ocarina of Time, it's hard for one to disagree that the game was genuinely difficult to complete in full. (I'm sure all of us had a temple or two that seemed near impossible to get through.) Majora's Mask followed suit several years later, perhaps becoming even more difficult due to the time constraints throughout Termina. Windwaker removed the pattern of increasing difficulty. Personally, I felt as though it was one of the easiest games in recent memory. Every since then, it seems like every Zelda game hasn't been as difficult/complex than Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask.

Unfortunately, it seemed like OoT: 3D incorporated some of those easier elements seen in more recent games. The Sheikah Stone gives hints regardless of how far you are in the game, while the Water Temple became simple with the visual aids above some of rooms. My question is, are you personally okay with such a decline in difficulty, or would you rather Nintendo remove these aids and stay true to the level of difficulty we've come to know from the past? In my opinion, I feel like the decline in difficulty makes the games far less enjoyable. Maybe it's based on age more than the game itself, but I try to avoid these aids as much as possible. It seems to take away from the original feel to the game.

The optional help is irrelevant, since it is totally optional. If it allows a larger base of players to enjoy the game while leaving the "challenge" intact then I don't see how its a bad thing.

I also feel that OoT and Majora's Mask aren't really as difficult as older players make them out to be, they were certainly a lot simpler to play than the 2D games and a big portion of the difficulty were that we were younger, less experienced players. I've seen plenty of people getting stuck on puzzles in the later games, much the same as I was getting stuck in the earlier games, but now understand "Oh, try your new equipment" or "Oh, check the map for rooms you haven't been in yet." Understanding the basics of combat, puzzle solving, and boss strategy naturally make the games, which all follow the same basic formula, easier to experienced players.

You bring up a really good point on the topic of optional help. I agree it does make the game far more appealing to newcomers or less experienced players, which I'm assuming makes up for a good reason of why there was a portable remake in the first place.

Not trying to sound like someone locked in "the good old days", but I find the puzzles in the newer games slightly easier than in the past. Whether this is due to age or the game is subjective, just like the prior question. As far as the 2D games goes, I can't really critique on the difficulty of those. Haven't played them in a close enough time to recall any truly "difficult" pieces.

I found A Link to the Past incredibly difficult. Even now, I've only ever beat it once.

I think future Zelda games should be much harder, but still keep the Sheikah Stone to help younger players.

Whilst I find the difficulty of Zelda nowadays a little disappointing, I have to think that the series is for everyone. Younger players may hate Zelda if it's too hard and never become interested in the series. Then there'd be a smaller Zelda fan base in the future.

The same goes for Mario. SM64 was difficult but the future games were easier. Needless to say, both Zelda and Mario have the fun factor, despite the difficulty being a little on the easy side.

I do not see how the time factor in Majora's Mask was a problem for anyone. You slow down time. Take care of your heroic deeds. Restart time when it gets close to three days. That's all there is to it. Then again, some people may not know about the "Inverted Song of Time" but that is another example of their stupidity for not exploring around.

I hate when people are like, "OH NO! Time restraints! SoOoOoO DiFfErEnT! ThIs GaMe Is AuToMaTiCaLlY IMPOSSIBLE!" - It was certainly a new feature, but it was nothing to freak out about. After the Skull Kid intro, the tool to restart time is in your possession at all times. You hold time itself in your hands. Yet people still freak out, as if they cannot control their easy-to-use newfound power. It's rather amusing.

I don't feel that OoT was difficult at all. There's a difference between "hard" and "it took me a long time for unrelated reasons", such as the Water Temple and needing to hoof it around to the different areas to find where the next damn key is. The puzzles aren't challenging, though they failed to be new so long ago that I can't recall what they were like the first time I did them. It was released half my life ago; if my 13 year old self could beat it then it couldn't have been THAT difficult. It was a wonderful game, but it wasn't hard. There are a few pains in the ass like the Gerudo Archery Challenge or Training Grounds, but everything else can be beaten by dedication, not skill.

The DS Zelda titles take care of tricky puzzles, and I wouldn't say that Skyward Sword wasn't a challenge.

Majora's Mask wasn't "difficult"; it just required repetition and exploration. Knowing to bring a very precise list of items to the Under the Well area didn't take skill, it took doing it once or twice and heading back out repeatedly. Doing the Anju and Kafei questline wasn't "difficult" in the sense that it was hard; it was just taxing to find all the different places and times to be different places. It keeps track of it all on your chart just in case you forget, so it's not even a matter of remembering.

Roxas, it's safe to say Majoras Mask took a decent amount of crtisicm for the time "constraints", which I also see as rediculous. It's easily my favorite Zelda game to be released, and I never found the time factor to be that much of a hinderance to begin with. Losing minor items was never a big deal, and the bank was one of the best conveniences throughout the game.

SonicFlash, I'm not sure how one can say the Water Temple was not "difficult", but it may be due to my perception of a large annoyance = difficult. Puzzles were never my strong point, to say the least.

It is ridiculous to see just how far critics will go to degrade a new feature that has a massive amount of potential to work. And it did.

As for the Water Temple, it can be considered in its own right to be "different" from the rest, and not solely because of the water factor. Puzzles tend to pick up at the point of the game when we first come across a water dungeon. Lakebed Temple is no exception. For hours, I spent pondering where to find another Small Key for the center room. Turns out that it was the boss door and I already had the Boss Key. Goes back to the stupidity factor. Even so, there were more easy spots in the temple than challenging spots.

I think you're missing the point of this thread entirely. Clearly, an older and more experienced person will find the game much easier than before. Optional aids were not present in the original games, yet they make their most significant appearance originating in this remake. The overall purpose is more so an opinion/stance on do you think the more modern Zelda games are becoming perhaps too simple with the use of these aids, and are you personally okay with it. As one member said, it does certainly appeal to a larger mass of people.

The question was not: "did you find this game easier/dumbed down". Obviously with age puzzle solving and reading literacy should make games/anything easier. My apoligies if you were mislead by the thread title.

I have to agree here with the key term of "optional". The Sheikah Stones are a pretty cool way of integrating a guide of sorts, allowing a player to enjoy their experience without need of pausing the game to go online or read up on how to get past a section. The fact it's entirely optional makes it less intrusive than other forms of help, which is why you'll also see integrated tutorials these days. Similarly, I feel the lines in the Water Temple can be ignored as mere decoration (I don't know if this system copped the same slack in the Great Bay Temple in MM). Some people might even use Bombchus for their ease over a normal Bomb.

In short: I think the optional factor is key, and that dumbing down is only as prominent as the player makes it, which is really in accordance with your own play style through choice. They may have made the gameplay smoother through the Sheikah Stones, or got rid of a long-standing irk through easily changeable boots and a clearer layout for the Water Temple, but at the end of the day I think it really is player's choice over forced differences in the game.

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